The objective of this analysis is to create a measure of completeness which indicates the access of different blocks in a city to essential points of interest.
Here are a list of the five selected amenities, each one’s attributed amenity value, amenity quantity and amenity decay.
| amenity | amenity_value | amenity_quantity | amenity_decay |
|---|---|---|---|
| park | 0.80 | 2 | 0.3465736 |
| supermarket | 1.00 | 4 | 0.1732868 |
| hospital | 0.50 | 1 | 0.6931472 |
| school | 0.60 | 6 | 0.1155245 |
| wastewater_plant | 0.05 | 1 | 0.6931472 |
A bit about why we chose each of these amenities:
- Parks are from the entertainment category and have proved to improve the mental and physical health of those around it. By providing green space, people are able to enjoy being outside, exercise and create a social environment which increases happiness levels. Furthermore, having an easy access park increases housing stock around it. Due to the exclusively positive impacts of this amenity, we have given it high value (0.8) however we believe parks are not unique and having too many options will still result in going to the closest one, especially when people have developed a sense of community. As such, we set the amenity quantity at 2.
- Supermarkets provide people with food which is essential but more importantly, healthy foods. Different from convenience stores, they are more accessible and have healthier options. People tend to value having a supermarket close to them as that is a place you have to go to often. This amenity is essential to everyone regardless of race, gender or age and so we decided to attribute maximum value to it. Furthermore, there are many different types of supermarkets and so, having variety adds value however, we believe there is a limit to the number of stores people are willing to go which we believe if close to 4.
- Hospitals are also essential and in the health category. Having a hospital close by is important, especially in emergencies as we know time can save a life. That said, emergencies are rare and on a day-to-day basis, people will more frequently go to clinics. After balancing those factors, we decided to attribute an average value of 0.5 and an amenity quantity of 1 as in an emergency, always go directly and as fast as you can to the closest one to you. In other words, the marginal benefit of having a second hospital is minimal.
- Schools are a part of families’ daily routine and so, being close by adds immense value to both kids and parents. When regarding education, we know people are often willing to go further for better quality if need be. As this amenity does not take quality into consideration, we have assessed its value at 0.6 to account for the very low added benefit a nearby bad school would add. To determine the quantity, we considered that there are three types of schools (primary, middle and upper school) and multiplied that by 2 which we think has a reasonable marginal benefit considering the high variability in quality and other characteristics of schools which lead to individual preferences.
- Wastewater plants are essential towards the functioning of a city however, it is not desirable to be near one. Thus, we have determined its value to be 0.05. That said, there is no marginal benefit to having a second one meaning the amenity quantity is capped at 1.
As for the amenity decay for each of these amenities, we used a logarithmic expression and chose to keep the 0.5 as an intermediate rate.
Next, are the explored modes of transportation (walking, cycling and driving), each of their mode values and mode reasonables.
| mode | mode_value | mode_reasonable | mode_decay |
|---|---|---|---|
| walking | 1.0 | 15 | 0.0462098 |
| cycling | 0.8 | 10 | 0.0693147 |
| driving | 0.3 | 20 | 0.0346574 |
Walking is the most preferred mode and it is ideal to have all amenities within walking distance so is valued at 1.0. This is because it is easily accessible as it does not require any materials, is environmentally friendly and is healthy. That said, it can be tiring especially after 15 minutes which is the mode reasonable value.
Cycling has many of the benefits of walking but requires a bike and its maintenance so is valued at 0.8. Furthermore it is more demanding and so has a lower mode reasonable value of 10.
Driving allows going further but requires dealing with traffic, pollutes and does not provide exercise. This has made it the least preferred mode with 0.3 value. Due to these same reasons mentioned above, it is reasonable to spend more time in this mode and so the chosen mode reasonable was 20.
As for the decay, mode decay follows the exact same equation used for amenity decay.
As a consequence of these choices, the baseline completeness score was 3.90401. This represents the ideal score based on the parameters set above.
Here is a map of all Points of Interest in Alameda County:
We can see this is a well developed area with an abundance of resources. It is hard to draw further conclusions from this map due to the large amount of information for a vast area.
More specifically, here is a map showing the distribution of the selected amenities (parks, supermarkets, schools, hospitals and wastewater plants) throughout Alameda County.
We can see the distribution seems fairly equal with centers along the Bay, from Berkeley to Fremont and then Dublin and Livermore.
Before moving on, it is also interesting to see the Oakland’s Census Blocks: